Skiers and other snow sports enthusiasts are constantly vexed by the problem presented by snow, sleet, freezing rain, slush and other objectionable matter collecting on their goggles during use, and by the need to remove this matter promptly, without stopping their activity. This problem is especially irritating when snow is wet and sticky. Not doing something about it immediately upon perception of the problem exposes skiers to the real danger of injury, to themselves and others. Many skiers give up the battle and don't wear goggles, or push them onto their foreheads or hats where they provide no protection. Others use their sleeves, the back of their hands or gloves, kerchiefs, etc., to try and keep their goggles clean during sking. However, none of these efforts is particularly effective or satisfactory, and few efforts, if any, have been made to solve the specific problem.
Needed is a means of removing snow from ski goggles which can be easily and conveniently carried, which doesn't interefere with a skier's mobility when not needed, and which is available for use immediately upon perception that the goggles need to be cleaned, and without any complex procedure or thought required, if possible.
There is little prior art relating to utensils for the removal of foreign material from glass and other fragile materials, such as the plastics used in ski goggles and glasses, which can also be easily carried until needed, and then used with a minimum of delay and effort.
Of course, the problem of cleaning unwanted matter from various objects and surfaces has long been recognized, and there are at least as many solutions to the problem as there are types of objects to clean. It is instructive to examine some of the proposed solutions to these problems in order to appreciate the solution represented by the present invention.
Luttinger U.S. Pat. No. Des. 55,290 discloses a design for a cleaner for carbide lamps.
The following U.S. patents all disclose scrapers or wipers for cleaning kitchen utensils and dishes:
Norton U.S. Pat. No. Des. 26,798
Hoffman U.S. Pat. No. Des. 34,727
Schwartz U.S. Pat. No. Des. 163,774
Lower U.S. Pat. No. 2,380,855
Peterson U.S. Pat. No. Des. 199,962 and U.S. utility Pat. No. 3,178,747 disclose a shaped flexible multi-purpose scraper or wiper.
Other patents discloses various designs for wipers or scrapers to remove ice, mud and/or dirt from various items and places:
Crossman U.S. Pat. No. Des. 27,141--wheels;
Baldwin U.S. Pat. No. Des. 193,679--golf balls;
Young U.S. Pat. No. Des. 269,944--gasoline nozzle.
The uses of some of these scrapers are only distantly related to the use herein dealt with. However, it is significant that although most of them incorporate holes for inserting fingers to help hold the tool during use, not one of them suggesst, or even infers, the possibility of fastening the scraper or wiper semi-permanently on the hand, wrist or on another tool used in the procedure associated with the cleaning process, during the time that the scraper or wiper might be needed.
Of course, everyone is acquainted with windshield wipers and the squeegee tools used to clean windows. The efforts of inventors to adapt such devices to eyewear has long been a subject for cartoons. Nevertheless little, if anything, appears in the literature about such tools which could be easily carried when not needed, but instantly available for cleaning glasses and goggles when needed.
None of the above even addresses the problems solved by the present invention, which is to have conveniently available, for use whenever it is needed, an easily used means of removing, from ski goggles and the like, snow, slush, sleet, ice, rain, and other matter which would interfere with the skier's vision during skiing.